Iran Responds to Saudi Hajj Invitation
Hojat-ol-Islam Seyyed Ali Qazi-Askar on Monday said that the country responded to the invitation to inform the Saudi side of Iran’s expectations and concerns about Hajj pilgrimage.
He said Iran is determined to send pilgrims to Hajj this year if the required preparations are made and the necessary conditions are provided.
He hoped that negotiations with Saudis will yield results and the ground is prepared for participation of Iranian pilgrims in Hajj this year.
Noting that Saudi Arabia has announced it will raise all countries’ quota for Hajj this year, Hojat-ol-Islam Qazi-Askar called for preparations to be made in the country for sending some 80,000 pilgrims to Hajj.
Iran refused to participate in Hajj last year due to the Saudi side’s failure to ensure the safety and dignity of Iranian pilgrims.
In September 2015, a deadly human crush occurred during Hajj rituals in Mina, near Mecca. Some 4,700 people, including over 465 Iranian nationals, lost their lives in the incident.
Earlier that same month, a massive construction crane had collapsed into Mecca’s Grand Mosque, killing more than 100 pilgrims, including 11 Iranians, and injuring over 200 others, among them 32 Iranian nationals.
Serious questions were raised about the competence of Saudi authorities to manage the Hajj rituals in the wake of the incidents, and, facing Saudi intransigence to cooperate and refusal to guarantee the safety of Iranian pilgrims, officials in the Islamic Republic subsequently decided to halt pilgrimages over security concerns.
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